Champions are not crowned at Christmas, as Wasps have repeatedly proved in recent times. At this stage last season, for instance, Gloucester had won eight of their first nine games, yet still failed to reach the Guinness Premiership grand final. On this evidence, though, there is no reason to suspect London Irish will not be strong title candidates in May and every possibility of a second member of the Armitage family being picked for England in the New Year.

It may be harsh to single out individuals after such a vibrant, purposeful team performance but, along with the Australian Peter Hewat and Samoan winger Sailosi Tagicakibau, it was impossible to ignore the all-action hub of Toby Booth's purring green machine. If Steffon Armitage is not included in his country's reshuffled elite squad next month it will be a scandal and the prospect of England fielding a set of brothers for the first time since the Underwoods seems increasingly likely.

The 23-year-old flanker, who is two years younger than his sibling Delon, was everywhere on Saturday, to the point where it seemed there were at least two Armitages on the pitch even after his brother limped off with a recurrence of a foot injury. As a boy, Steffon played at scrum-half, centre, wing and full-back before his father John intervened — "He was always in my ear saying: 'You're not quick enough, you'll never be a good back, get into the forwards'" — but his pace and strength are now proving a handful even for top-four opponents like Gloucester. Delon's fine start to his Test career has provided extra motivation. "I was hoping I'd get there before him," admitted Armitage Jr. "It's just pushing me even more."

Whether he gets the call or not — and the England management have already discussed the matter with Booth — it is Armitage's firm belief that Irish will not fade meekly away over the second half of the season. Saturday's deserved bonus-point success was achieved in the absence of their England lock Nick Kennedy and their giant South African prop Faan Rautenbach, yet the Exiles still dominated the supposedly in-form visitors in almost every facet of the game. "I truly believe we're going to stay up there," said Armitage. "We want to win the Premiership and we've got all the belief in the world. We're playing the rugby of our lives and we're number one in the table. It's given everyone a charge. This is a new time for London Irish."

A total of 26 tries in nine games also mocks the hazy perception of the Premiership as a strait-jacketed league which fails to reward attacking enterprise. The Exiles still kick intelligently, with Hewat a major influence, but there is a zest about their ball-handling and running which makes the game look refreshingly simple. There will be no complaints from neutrals if Irish keep winning and, as the pitches harden in spring, late-season conditions should suit them nicely. The only caveat is a tough-looking run of fixtures against Harlequins, Bath, Leicester and Wasps during the Six Nations period when the relatively meagre size of their squad could count against them.

Ten wins on the spin, though, suggests a team which now senses anything is possible. Well led by Bob Casey, they also think smarter than most. As early as the first quarter Hewat could be found at No8 with the bulkier Armitage at No10 in a bid to exploit the fly-half channel, while Tagicakibau even appeared at the front of a line-out. When Mark Foster hoisted a regulation kick in the 18th minute, Delon Armitage did not simply catch and seek to recycle in an orthodox fashion but twisted and gloriously outpaced Ryan Lamb on the outside to score a 60-metre scorcher.

It could have been carnage had referee Sean Davey not done his best to level things up with several fractional calls at the breakdown. As it turned out, Gloucester's reprieve was temporary, with Steffon Armitage charging deep into the 22 and Paul Hodgson spotting a gap in the shadow of the posts. Tagicakibau dragged half the Gloucester team over with him to supply his side's third try and, in the game's final move, turnover ball presented the replacement flanker Declan Danaher with another long-range score. The number of celebratory green-shirted bodies who piled on top of him was eclipsed only by the multitude of problems facing Gloucester's head coach, Dean Ryan. Illness aside — Olly Barkley cried off shortly before kick-off and Olly Morgan had to be withdrawn at half-time — there were precious few straws to clutch by the final whistle.